Spray device



June 15, 1954 w. TUTTLE 2,681,252 SPRAY DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1951 INVENTOR. Wainwright Tuttle HT'TOPNE Y5 and the liquid is a gas at contained a wick, the

Patented June 15, 1954 SPRAY DEVICE Wainwright Tuttle, Milford, Conn., assignor to Bridgeport Brass Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application January 17, 1951, Serial No. 206,341

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a spray device of the type including a container for liquid under superatmospheric pressure and which is provided with an outlet having a spray orifice for ejecting the containers content.

One form of. this type of device is in the nature of a package which is made and sold as a complete unit. The outlet is provided with a valve atmospheric pressure. The container is of a size handy for manual manipulation. The liquefied gas includes an active ingredient such as an insecticide, deodorant, perfume or the like. The valve is made so that it canube released by finger pressure, and the user picks up the package and operates the valve so as to obtain a spray dispensingthe active ingredient.

One of the problems encountered in designing and making a spray device in the above form is to obtain a relatively uniform iiow rate through the spray orifice regardless of the position in which the user holds the package. Another problem is to obtain a relatively dry spray, as it is called, which means that the liquefied gas completely converts to its gas phase during its ejection through the spray orifice or soon enough thereafter to avoid the spattering of droplets of the gas whiiestill inits liquid phase.

One of the objects of the present invention is to overcome the above problems to a greater degree than has heretofore been possible and without involving excessively high manufacturing costs. Another object is to produce. a spray device of the type described and which operates in a reasonably satisfactory manner regardless of Whether or not the container is inverted. Still another object is to produce this type of device in the form of a spray package and which provides for the dispensing of a relatively uniform spray regardless of the position in which the packageis held. Other objects may be inferred from the nature of the present invention.

One attempt at solving satisfactorily the mentioned problems involved the use of a metal tube which extended from the outlet of the container downinto the latters liquid content and which tube being perforated throughout its length. The idea Was that the wick would generally acquire its maximum degree of saturation throughout its length regardless of the extent that the metal tube was immersed. This attempt proved to be a failure, the inversion of the container resulting ina wet spray and the rate of spray bein excessively irregular when the container was held in various degrees of inversion.

The present invention diverges from the above in that, although a wick-filled tube is used, the tube itself is made from material which is semiporous to the liquid in the container. A paper tube filled with strands of cotton candle wick strands operates successfully, the paper being of the type which is strong enough to hold together Without disintegrating gas feeds through the tube and through the wick when the outlet is connected with the atmospheric pressure, the feeding presumably resulting from a combination of the pressure inside the container and capillary attraction.

The accompanying drawings. illustrate one form of the invention, the various figures being.

as follows:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of one of the described kind of packages incorporatin the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale shows a vertical section of the valve outlet with its spray orifice.

As illustrated, the container l is inthe formof a commercially available, twelve ounce, seamless tin can of the so-called low pressure'type. This can is filled with liquefied gas 2 containing an active ingredient such as an insecticide, deodorant, perfume, etc. The bottom 3 of the can has the familiar concave shape used to resist highinternal pressure.

.The mouth of the metal assembly shown in detail by Fig. 3. This assembly includes a cup 4 having a feeding tube connection 5 and provided at its top with a completely enclosing, deformable, non-metallic diaphragm 6. An expansion chamber and nozzle assembly 7 projects through this diaphragm 6 and is clamped to it, a base flange 8 seating can is closed by a pressed.

against the bottom of the diaphragm 6 in a fiuid tight manner under the urge of a spring 9 contained in the cup 4. The inside of this flange 8 communicates with the inside of the nozzle as sembly i and the latter communicates with a spray orifice through which the can contents is ejected. When the user tilts the nozzle assembly I, with finger pressure, the flange 8 is tilted so that one of its sides leaves the bottom of the diaphragm G and the can contents can find its way up through the assembly I and out through the orifice It. This valve construction is disclosed and claimed by the Loven et al. application Serial No. 785,158, filed November 10, 1947, now Patent No. 2,582,262.

As described so far the illustrated package substantially duplicates one popular commercialized package now on the market. In this prior art commercial form a plastic tube extends from the connection down into the container l and to one point in the peripheral valley formed by the can bottom 3. This tube has a wall which is completely liquid tight, the liquid 2 being driven up through the bottom end of the tube when the nozzle assembly I is tilted.

In the present instance the outlet in the top of the can connects, by way of the connection 5, with the described semi-porous tube H and the latter not only extends down into the peripheral valley formed by the concave can bottom 3 but it loops around in this valley so as to form a substantially complete circle as is illustrated by Fig. 2. As previously indicated this tube may be made of strong paper, such as kraft paper, that does not disintegrate but which is porous to some degree respecting the liquid 2. The porosity preferred is in the nature of a slow filter paper such as is used to filter liquid. This tube H is completely filled with cotton candle wick strands E! as shown. A screen I3 is positioned in the bottom of the cup 4 across the top of the wick filled tube to prevent wick fibres from reaching and clogging the small fluid passages.

In operation the nozzle assembly I is tilted with the can i or in any position desired, this including a completely inverted position. When the entire tube H is immersed in the liquefied gas 2 the spray rate through the orifice I0 is somewhat faster than when the can is almost empty, but the variation is within reasonably satisfactory limits. When the can I is partially empty so that only a portion of the tube ii is directly wet with the liquefied gas, the balance of the tube H still remains wet and the spray rate is not excessively more or less than that obtained when a full can is used. This is so regardless of the degree of inversion of the container. Under all of these conditions a satisfactory dry spray is obtained.

Due to the construction illustrated, the tube H is more or less directly immersed in the liquid when the container is held in different positions. As shown, the wick completely fills the tube cross sectionally as well as longitudinally.

The semi-porous paper permits liquid to pass through but resists the passage of gas due to surfac tension as in the commonly observed ability of a wet pillowcase to hold air. The wicking not only transmits the liquid to the valve but also likewise prevents the passage or gas to the valve. The paper is a better barrier to gas in a thin layer than the wicking alone would be. This combination is essential for reasonably uniform spray rates in different positions of the conr 4 tainer and to prevent gas from reaching the valve in anyposition of the container.

I claim:

1. A spray device including, in combination, a container for liquid under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet for one wall of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting the containers content, a tube connected with said outlet to feed said content thereto and extending into said container so that varying lengths of the tube are immersed in said content when said container is held in different positions, and a wick in said tube and extending throughout its immersing length, the wall of said tube being porous to a degree causing the wall to resist the passage of gas when the wall is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein.

2. A spray device including, in combination, a container for liquid under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet for one wall of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting the containers content, a tube connected with said outlet to feed said content thereto'and extending into said container so that varying lengths of the tube are immersed in said content when said container is held in different positions, and a wick in said tube and extending throughout its immersing length, said tube being made of paper that is porous to a degree causing the paper to resist the passage or gas when the paper is wet with liquid and to pass the therein.

3. A spray device including, in combination, a container for liquid under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet for one wall of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting the containers content, a tube connected with said outlet to feed said content thereto and extending into said container so that varying lengths of the tube are immersed in said content when said container is held in difierent positions, and a wick in said 'tube and extending throughout its immersing length, said tube being made of paper that is porous to a degree causing the paper to resist the passage of gas when the paper is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein, and said wick filling said tube crosssectionally.

4. A spray package including, in combination, a container containing liquefied gas under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet in the top of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting said gas, and a tube filled with a wick and connecting with said outlet to feed said gas thereto and extending down to the bottom of said container, the wall of said tube being porous to a degree causing the wall to resist the passage of gas when the wall is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein.

5. A spray package including, in combination, a container containing liquefied gas under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet in the top of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting said gas, and a tube filled with a wick and connecting with said outlet to feed said gas thereto and extending down to the bottom of said container and extending around the periphery of said bottom, the wall or said tube being porous to a degre causing the wall to resist the passage of gas when the wall is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein.

6. A spray package including, in combination, a container containing liquefied gas under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet in the top of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting liquid when immersed said gas, and a tube filled with a wick and connecting with said outlet to feed said gas thereto and extending down to the bottom of said container, said tube being made of paper that is porous to a degree causing the paper to resist the passage of gas when the paper is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein.

7. A spray package including, in combination, a container containing liquefied gas under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet in the top of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting said gas, and a tube filled with a wick and connecting with said outlet to feed said gas thereto and extending down to the bottom of said container, said tube being made of paper that is porous to a degree causing the paper to resist the passage of gas when the paper is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein, and said wick being cotton candle wicking.

8. A spray package including, in combination, a container containing liquefied gas under superatmospheric pressure, an outlet in the top of said container and having a spray orifice for ejecting said gas, and a tube filled with a wick and connecting with said outlet to feed said gas thereto and extending down to the bottom of said container, said tube being made of paper that is porous to a degree causing the paper to resist the passage of gas when the paper is wet with liquid and to pass the liquid when immersed therein and said Wick ibeing cotton candle wicking, said tube and wick extending around the periphery of said bottom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 52,231 Walton Jan. 2, 1866 394,775 Kneuper Dec, 18, 1888 2,279,705 Dayhuff Apr. 14, 1942 2,313,930 Gebauer Mar. 16, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 298,693 Italy July 13, 1932 

